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Councils across Britain have been ordered to send samples of cladding on the outside of tower blocks so they can undergo rigorous testing to make sure they are safe following the fire at Grenfell Tower.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has written to local authorities telling them they must check materials used on the outside of their high-rises urgently.

Councils with properties more than 59ft (18m) high with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding must supply samples of the panels to DCLG for fire safety tests to establish whether the material in their core is combustible. The first testing is expected to begin on Tuesday.

Melted cladding seen on the Glenfell Tower following the fireCredit:
Julian Simmonds

DCLG permanent secretary Melanie Dawes said the government wanted to address public concern about ‘potential flaws’ in the cladding on Grenfell Tower.

“While the exact reasons for the speed of the spread of fire have yet to be determined, we have concluded that there are additional tests that can be undertaken with regard to the cladding,” she said.

“We are therefore asking local authorities and other registered providers of social housing to identify whether any panels used in new build or refurbishment are a particular type of cladding made of ACM.”

Last week it emerged that contractors had used a more flammable type of material for the outer layer of the cladding, which Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, said was banned in Britain.

The DCLG later confirmed that the polyethylene filling between the two Reynobond aluminum panels did not pass building regulations for tower blocks over 59ft (18m) and a flame retardant material should have been used instead.

It emerged that contractors had not chosen a fire retardant cladding for the outer layer of the insulation

However John Cowley, managing director of CEP Architectural Facades, which provided the rainscreen panels for Grenfell Tower's sub-contractor Harley Facades Ltd, said that was untrue.

“Reynobond PE is not banned in the UK. Current building regulations allow its use in both low-rise and high-rise structures.”

The Grenfell Tower disaster has highlighted serious concerns over fire safety in tower blocks, with many asking whether sprinklers would have helped to save lives.

The 24-storey tower was built without sprinklers in 1974, with regulations in England only requiring them in high-rise residential buildings since 2007.

A public inquiry will look at whether sprinklers should be retrofitted to older tower blocks, and why Kensington and Chelsea failed fit the devices even though it had millions of pounds in its reserves.

The government is concerned that other tower blocks are covered in cladding Credit:
Andy Radin EPA

Former minister and ex-firefighter Mike Penning MP said: "People have been calling, I think probably rightly, for sprinklers to be installed for many, many years under many different governments."

Downing Street confirmed that several London boroughs had come together in a Gold Command structure to coordinate assistance to those affected by the disaster. The move came after Theresa May said that initial support on the ground was "not good enough".

Asked whether the Prime Minister had considered resigning following criticism of her own performance, a spokeswoman said: "These are incredibly challenging times, with a couple of terrible incidents in a week and she is leading the country through this difficult time."

Following reports that some families had been offered alternative accommodation as far away as Preston, a Number 10 spokeswoman said Mrs May stood by her promise that all those affected will be rehoused within three weeks either in Kensington and Chelsea or a neighbouring borough, unless they want to move elsewhere.

It is understood that some families have asked to be rehoused outside the area in order to be near relatives.

The Downing Street spokeswoman rejected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's call for empty homes near the fire scene to be requisitioned to house families, saying: "We do not support proposals to seize private property. Our focus is on rehousing people as soon as we can."